The Gospel's Restoration—Its Priesthood and Principles—The Saints Misrepresented—The “Mormon” War—Comparative Statistics—The Impending Judgments of God—Duties of the Saints—A Warning to Their Oppressors—The Wickedness of the World—Exhortation to Righteousness

Discourse by President John Taylor, delivered at the General Conference, on Sunday Afternoon, April 9th, 1882.

Reported by Geo. F. Gibbs.

In attempting to address the congregation this afternoon, I trust that
all will be as quiet as possible. It is extremely difficult to make
the congregation hear in this place, especially in so large an
assembly, when there is the least confusion. While I address you, I
wish to speak
such words as shall be interesting, edifying and
instructive, and I desire an interest in the prayers of the faithful,
that I may be able to do so intelligently, that we may be the better
for our coming together.

I am aware of the position that we occupy today. I feel that I am
surrounded by a large number of intelligent men and women, and while I
am addressing you, I am also addressing the world, for the remarks I
make will be reported and published to the world. Therefore, I am
desirous to advance such sentiments as will be in accord with the
enlightenment of the Latter-day Saints, with the intelligence of the
19th century, and with the principles that have emanated from God.

Any intelligence which we may possess and which we may be able to
impart, is not of ourselves, but of God. It did not originate with us;
it did not originate with Joseph Smith, with Brigham Young, with the
Twelve Apostles, nor was it received from any institution of learning,
nor of science, either religious, political, or social. Our philosophy
is not the philosophy of the world; but of the earth and the heavens,
of time and eternity, and proceeds from God.

A message was announced to us by Joseph Smith the Prophet, as a
revelation from God, wherein he stated that holy angels had appeared
to him and revealed the everlasting Gospel as it existed in former
ages; and that God the Father and God the Son had also appeared to
him: the Father pointing to the Son, said, “This is my beloved Son,
hear ye him.” Moroni, a prophet that had lived on this continent,
revealed unto Joseph the plates containing the Book of Mormon, and by
the gift and power of God he was enabled to translate them into what
is known as the Book of Mormon. That book contains a record of the
ancient inhabitants who dwelt upon this continent, a part of whom came
from the tower of Babel at the time of the confounding of tongues, and
another part came from Jerusalem in the time of Zedekiah, king of
Judah, 600 years before the advent of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. This book contains a record of the dealings of God with those
people; it contains a record of their worship, of their wars and
commotions, of their righteousness and iniquity, and of the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ unto them, and of His preaching unto them the
same Gospel that was taught on the continent of Asia, attended by the
same ordinances, the same organization and the same principles.

I shall not attempt to bring any proof with regard to these matters
today; I am simply making statements, the truth of which you
Latter-day Saints know, as it would be impossible to enter into all
the details in a short discourse. Suffice it to say, that the Father
having presented His Son to Joseph Smith, and commanded him to hear
Him, Joseph was obedient to the heavenly call, and listened to the
various communications made by men holding the Holy Priesthood in the
various ages under the direction of the Only Begotten. He and Oliver
Cowdery were commanded to baptize each other, which they did. John
the Baptist came and conferred upon them the Aaronic Priesthood. Then
Peter, James and John, upon whom was conferred, in the Savior's day,
the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood came, and conferred that
Priesthood upon them. Then Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Elijah, Elias,
and many
other leading characters mentioned in the Scriptures,
who had operated in the various dispensations, came and conferred upon
Joseph the various keys, powers, rights, privileges and immunities
which they enjoyed in their times.

Again, Joseph was commanded to preach this Gospel and to bear this
testimony to the world. He was taught the same principles that were
taught to Adam, the same principles that were taught to Noah, to
Enoch, to Abraham, to Moses, to Elijah and other Prophets, the same
principles that were taught by Jesus Christ and the Apostles in former
times on the continent of Asia, accompanied with the same Priesthood
and the same organization, only more fully, because the present
dispensation is a combination of the various dispensations that have
existed in the different ages of the world, and which is designated in
the Scriptures as the dispensation of the fulness of times, in which
God would gather together all things in one, whether they be things in
heaven or things on earth. Therefore, whatever of knowledge, of
intelligence, of Priesthood, of powers, of revelations was conferred
upon those men in the different ages, was again restored to the earth
by the ministration and through the medium of those who held the holy
Priesthood of God in the different dispensations in which they lived.

Under the direction of the Almighty, Joseph organized a church; and
when people were called upon to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, to
repent of their sins, to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for
the remission of sins and to have hands laid upon them for the
reception of the Holy Ghost, those who did believe and obey received
the atten-dant blessings. Then the various offices of the Priesthood
began to be conferred upon men who believed, and in due time the
quorum of the Twelve was organized, whose commission was to proclaim
this Gospel to every people, to every nation, to every kindred, to
every tongue. Then a quorum of seventy Elders was selected, known by
the name of Seventies; and we now have some 76 times 70 of those
Elders.

A First Presidency was also organized to preside over the whole Church
in all the world. Then there were High Priests ordained whose office
was principally to preside as well as to preach the Gospel. Then there
were Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons; and this organization was
given by direct revelation, by which the Church has been governed from
that time until the present. Bishops were also appointed whose
position in the Church was clearly defined by the word of the Lord.
Then High Councils were organized for the adjustment of all matters of
difficulty, for the correction of incorrect doctrine, for the
maintenance of purity and correct principles among the Saints, and for
the adjudication of all general matters pertaining to Israel. This was
the testimony and this is our testimony today to the nations of the
earth. The Lord stood at the head as instructor, guide and director;
and the Elders were told to go forth and to preach the Gospel to every
creature, because confusion, disorder, sectarianism and the theories
of men had been substituted for the word and will, and the revelation,
law and power of God. These Elders were told that we approached the
latter times, when God would have a controversy with the nations, and
the message which
they had to proclaim was that which was
described by John when wrapped in prophetic vision upon the Isle of
Patmos. Among other great and important events he said “I saw another
angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to
preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation and
kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God
and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment is come.” This was
the commission given by the Lord to the Latter-day Saints. This is the
mission we have been trying to carry out from that time to the
present; and I myself have traveled tens of thousands of miles without
purse or scrip, trusting in God, to teach these holy principles, and
so have many of my brethren by whom I am surrounded.

When we started we were told that we were not sent to be taught, but
to teach. Why? Because the world was not in possession of the
principles of life, and therefore could not teach them. We went in
obedience to the direct command of God to us through his servant
Joseph, and we have spread forth the Gospel among the nations. And is
there anything unreasonable about it? No. Is it true? Yes. Is it
scriptural? Yes. Is it philosophical? Yes. And I say today, not by
way of boasting, because we have nothing to boast of (I have no
intelligence but what I am indebted to God, my heavenly Father and my
brethren for), that while I have traveled through various parts of the
United States and the Canadas, also in England, Ireland, Scotland,
Wales, France, Germany, and different parts of the earth, among the
wise and intelligent as well as the poor and ignorant, among all
classes of men—I have stood in their halls and talked with their
professors, ministers, legislators, rulers, divines, judges and wise
men of every class, grade and position in life—but I have never met
with a man who could gainsay one principle of the Gospel of the Son of
God, and I never expect to; because truth, eternal truth, as it
emanates from God, cannot be controverted.

And what is the nature of the Gospel? It is the same as that taught on
the day of Pentecost by the Apostles, when they cried out to the
multitude, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost.” That was the testimony which they bore to the
people. That is the testimony which the Elders of this Church bear.
There is something about this that is reasonable, that is intelligent,
and that is susceptible of proof. It was a very fair proposition for
the Apostle to make, promising the people who would obey the
requirements which the Gospel imposes upon its adherents, that they
should receive the Holy Ghost. And what should this do for them? It
was to cause their old men to dream dreams and their young men to see
visions, it was to make their sons and daughters prophesy, it was to
bring things past to their remembrance, to lead them into all truth,
and to show them things to come. This proposition was not alone of a
religious nature, but it was also strictly philosophical. The farmer
sows oats or wheat, or plants corn, and what does he expect? He
expects oats, wheat or corn, as the case may be, and nothing else.
There are laws and principles in nature, in the vegetable, the animal
and the mineral kingdoms, as well as in all
the works of God,
that are true in themselves and they are eternal. There are such
metals as gold, silver, copper or iron, each possessing certain
distinctive elements which they always did possess; and the different
bodies in their chemical relations possess principles that are always
true to unchangeable laws. It is so also in regard to all the elements
by which we are surrounded, and also in regard to the heavenly bodies.
Because of these unchanging laws, we know precisely when the sun will
rise and when it will set. We know when certain planets or comets will
appear and disappear. All their movements are undeviating, exact and
true according to the laws of nature.

Now here is a principle of the Gospel that will admit of as strong
evidence as anything in nature. What is it? “Repent, and be baptized
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” Or in other
words, sow wheat and you reap wheat; plant corn and you gather corn.
It was a bold position to take. I remember that on these points I
questioned the Elder who brought the Gospel to me. I asked, What do
you mean by this Holy Ghost? Will it cause your old men to dream
dreams and your young men to see visions; will it bring to pass the
scripture which saith: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will
pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy? Yes.
Will it give you the permeating influence of the Spirit of the living
God, and give you a certain knowledge of the principles that you
believe in?

“Yes,” he answered, “and if it will not, then I am an impostor.”
Said
I, That is a very fair proposi-tion. Finding the doctrine to be
correct, I obeyed, and I received that Spirit through obedience to the
Gospel which gave me a knowledge of those principles which I simply
believed before, because they were scriptural, reasonable and
intelligent, according to that scripture which saith, “If any man will
do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or
whether I speak of myself.”

I was ordained an Elder by the proper authorities, and I went forth to
preach this Gospel. Other Elders went forth as I did to the civilized
nations, preaching the same doctrine and holding out the same
promises. Some of them were not very learned; some were not very
profoundly educated. We send a singular class of people in our Elders.
Sometimes a missionary is a merchant, sometimes a legislator, a
blacksmith, an adobe maker, a plasterer, a farmer, or common laborer,
as the case may be. But all under the same influence and spirit, all
going forth as missionaries to preach the Gospel of light, of life and
of salvation. They have received the treasures of eternal life, and
they are enabled to communicate them to others; and they hold out the
same promises. You who hear me this afternoon, as well as thousands
upon thousands of others, have listened to those principles, you have
had held out unto you those promises; and when you obeyed the Gospel,
you received this same spirit; and you are my witnesses of the truth
of the things that I now proclaim in your hearing, and of the Spirit
and power of God attending the obedience to the Gospel, and you will
not deny it. This congregation will not deny it. When you yielded
obedience to the laws of God, obeyed
His commandments, were
baptized for the remission of your sins and had hands laid upon you
for the reception of the Holy Ghost, you did receive it; and you are
living witnesses before God. This is a secret that the world does not
comprehend. Its people have not obeyed it and they do not know it; and
the things of God, say the scriptures, no man knoweth but by the
Spirit of God; and this Spirit has imparted to us that intelligence
and that knowledge. This people have in their possession a hope that
enters within the veil, whither Christ, our forerunner, has gone. They
are living and acting and operating for eternity. God is their Father,
and they know it. Some people think we are a set of ignorant boobies,
who do not know what we are talking about, and they try to overrun the
faith of the Latter-day Saints by sophistry, falsehood and folly.
Whilst the fact is, we are in possession of the principles of eternal
life, and are operating for eternity; and then we are operating to
build up the Zion of God, where righteousness can be taught, and where
men can be protected, and where liberty can be proclaimed to all men
of every color, of every creed and of every nation.

Being placed in communication with God, the sophistry, nonsense and
dogmas of men have no influence upon us. We are built upon the rock of
revelation, as Peter was, and on the same principle. Said Jesus to
him, “Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” The answer was:
“Some say thou art one of the Prophets; some say thou art the Elias
who was to come,” etc. “But whom say you that I am?” Peter answered
and said: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus
replied, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath
not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven; and I
say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I
build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
What rock? The rock of revelation—upon the intelligence communicated
by the Holy Ghost to those who obey the Gospel of the Son of God; by
this, men shall know for themselves, and stand as the rock of ages,
invulnerable, immovable and unchangeable. That is the position which
we the Latter-day Saints occupy.

This, then, is the religious part of the question. What do we believe
in? We believe in purity, in virtue, in honesty, in integrity, in
truthfulness and in not giving way to falsehood; we believe in
treating all men justly, uprightly and honorably; we believe in
fearing God, observing His laws and keeping His commandments. Do we
all do it? No, not quite. I wish we did. But a great majority of the
Later-day Saints are doing this; and if there are those that are not,
let them look well to their path, for God will be after them, and
their brethren will be after them, for God cannot look upon sin with
any degree of allowance. And as we are here for the purpose of
building up Zion, He expects that we will be upright and honorable in
all our dealings with one another and with all men.

One part of the Gospel is that we should be gathered together to a
land that should be called Zion. Have we been doing this? Yes. Some
people are very much opposed to it. Have we injured anybody by
gathering in this way? Is this indeed the land of the free, the home
of the brave, and the asylum for the oppressed? Cannot the
people of this nation afford to listen to the principles of truth, and
allow men who are fearing God to assemble together to worship Him
according to the dictates of their own consciences? Have we violated
any law of the United States in thus gathering together and in thus
worshiping our God? Not that I know of. Have we been opposed to the
United States? No! no! no! We never have, and we are at the defiance
of all men to prove anything of the kind. There are falsehoods set
afoot by low, degraded, unprincipled men. We believe that the
Constitution of the United States was given by inspiration of God. And
why? Because it is one of those instruments which proclaims liberty
throughout the land, and to all the inhabitants thereof. And it was
because of those noble sentiments, and the promulgation of those
principles which were given by God to man, we believe that it was
given by the inspiration of the Almighty. We have always esteemed it
in this light, and it was so declared by Joseph Smith. Did we do any
wrong in coming here in the way we did? I think not. Did we transgress
any of the laws of the United States? I think not. Did we transgress
any of the laws of the nations we left? I think not. We gathered
together simply because we were told there was a Zion to be built up.
And what was that Zion? The term means the pure in heart. In
connection with our gathering, I would remark, that a short time ago,
at one of our public celebrations, there were twenty-seven
nationalities represented. This is in accordance with the scripture
which says: I will take them one of a city and two of a family, and
bring them to Zion. And I will give them pastors after mine own heart,
that shall feed them with knowledge and understanding. This is what we
find in the Christian Bible, and there is certainly no harm in
believing the Bible. The Christians send their Bible missionaries
among us to circulate it, and we are always glad to receive the Bible
and be governed by it.

Now, then, being gathered together, we necessarily required some kind
of social relations with each other, for when we came here we brought
our bodies with us as well as our religion, and we brought our wives
and families with us as well as our religion; and we needed to
cultivate the earth and build houses, and plant orchards, and
vineyards, and gardens, and attend to the common affairs of life. And
then as we began to increase we began to open and build farms,
hamlets, villages and cities. Is there anything wrong in this? No.
Finally, when we came here we petitioned for a State government, the
people held a convention and a constitution was framed, and forwarded
to Washington. Congress refused our application for a State, but they
gave us a Territorial form of government and named the Territory Utah;
and strange to say, how men and nations change, they are trying to
interfere with us because of our polygamy, and at that time the
government appointed a polygamous governor, Brigham Young. People
change in their sentiments and views; I suppose they call it progress.
Apostle Orson Pratt, whom you all knew, as soon as that revelation was
made public, went down to the city of Washington, and there published
the doctrine of plural marriage and also lectured upon it. The paper
he published
was called The Seer, which many of you brethren
remember very well. They were not in ignorance in relation to these
matters. It was then well understood by the nation that these were our
sentiments, and that President Young was a polygamist.

But passing on. Sometime after that, we had some United States
officials sent out here, who were not polygamists, but one of them
went so far as to show us what beautiful civilization they had where
he came from, and he left his wife at home and brought with him a
strumpet and took her on to the bench with him, to let the people see
how intelligent and enlightened the people were in the United States.
However, fortunately for him, there was no Edmunds bill then. Still,
we were not much edified. It might be according to some people's
system of ethics; it may be considered beautiful or aesthetic by the
admirers of this fast and progressive civilization; but we could not
appreciate it, and the consequence was, that the people felt
indignant, they looked upon him as a profligate, and that he had
defiled and disgraced the ermine. These were the sentiments of the
people then, and they are yours today, for you have never been taught
anything else. He and some others went back to Washington, and
reported that the “Mormons” were in a state of rebellion; that they
were a very wicked people, very corrupt and very depraved, almost as
bad as some of our truth-telling ministers make us out to be, for some
of them are not very notorious for telling the truth, nobody believes
them here; but then they have reverend put before their names and
that, of course, covers—what is it? a multitude of sins. And
therefore, the mendacious stories that they tell and circulate are
received as actual truth by thousands of blind, ignorant, bigoted
people, who, doubtless, are far more sincere and far more honest and
pure in their lives than these specimens of fallen humanity who, in
the garb of sanctity, manufacture falsehoods and prepare them
specially for the vitiated taste of the age.

But to return; judges and other officials were sent here, and suffice
it to say, we did not like their civilization; and, then, they were
not much enamored with ours, because whatever we may be in the
estimation of the world generally, we are utterly averse to anything
like licentiousness and debauchery; and, if there is any among us, we
are indebted to our Christian friends for it, and to our Christian
judges for maintaining and protecting it in our midst. We have no
affiliation with such things; they cannot exist among us as a people,
only by the force, the power and influence of this federal
Christianity that has been introduced among us. Until these people
came into our midst we had no house of ill fame; and a lady could
travel as safely in our streets at any time of night as in the day; we
had no occasion to lock our doors to prevent thieves from preying upon
us; we had no drunkenness, ribaldry or blasphemy in our streets; all
these things have been introduced among us by our good, kind, pure,
pious Christian friends, and in scores of our remote settlements where
this civilization has not penetrated, they are free from these vices
today.

Now we will go back to the statement of these men. They were believed
in Washington. What did they state? Among other things they said that
we had burned the United States library, and the court records, and
that a dreadful
state of anarchy was in existence; and instead
of the United States sending out a commission to enquire into these
matters, they took the statement of a Lothario and his associates, and
sent out an army to destroy us. And these troops were reduced to
gnawing mules' legs about the vicinity of Bridger, refusing salt when
we sent it to them—for we would have done them good, notwithstanding
they came as our enemies. I remember writing a letter to one of the
officers who had a letter of introduction to me, and forwarded it by a
messenger; I told him that I was very sorry, that as a United States'
officer, as an honorable man, he should be placed in the situation he
was then in; because he could not help it, as an officer, any more
than we could, as he was operating as a servant of the government
under military rule and had, therefore, to obey orders. And that while
we esteemed him and other officers as patriots and high-minded,
honorable men, who had exhibited their patriotism and bravery in
Mexico and other places, and while we heard of their excellent
military equipments, we did not like the idea of their trying the
temper of their steel upon us. I told him that republics which
reflected the voice of the people were in many instances excitable and
erratic, and that I looked for a reaction in public opinion, and that
when that change came I expected the difficulties that the government
had placed us in would be done away, and that then I would be glad to
extend to him that courtesy in our city that one gentleman should
extend to another, and would then be happy to see him. But we could
not meet then of course; they could not come to us, and we could not
very well go out to them.

So that the Latter-day Saints may know the truth or falsity of the
allegations made by Judge Drummond, I will have the official statement
of Governor Cumming, who came out with the army, read to this
congregation.

It would be unfair and disingenuous to blame one administration for
the acts of another, yet when we see a disposition to listen to the
same kind of popular clamor that then existed, we cannot but notice a
great similarity of circumstances.

[Elder L. John Nuttall then read the following extracts from the
official statement of Governor Cumming, which was dated Great Salt
Lake City, April 15th, 1858:]

“Since my arrival I have been employed in examining the records of the
Supreme and District Courts, which I am now prepared to report as
being perfect and unimpaired. This will, doubtless, be acceptable
information to those who have entertained an impression to the
contrary.

I have also examined the Legislative Records and other books belonging
to the office of Secretary of State, which are in perfect
preservation.

* * * * *

The condition of the large and valuable Territorial Library has also
commanded my attention: and I am pleased in being able to report that
Mr. W. C. Staines, the librarian, has kept the books and records in
most excellent condition. I will, at an early day, transmit a
catalogue of this library, and schedules of the other public property,
with certified copies of the records of the Supreme and District
Courts, exhibiting the character and amount of the public business
last transacted in them.”

Thus it appears that the allegations made by our enemies were
false, and the army was sent out under false representations, and
their own Governor furnishes the evidence for their own refutation.
Yet we were subjected to the indignity and outrage of having an army
sent among us, predicated upon these false statements.

From the above and other similar actions manifested towards us as a
people we have learned in the sad school of experience, and by the
things that we have suffered, the excitability of the populace, and
the unreasonable, savage and relentless feelings that frequently
possess the people in their antagonism towards us, to be very careful,
in all our acts among men, not to excite that feeling of hate which
seems to be implanted in the human bosom against the principles taught
by the servants of the Lord in all ages of the world.

Our mission is and always has been peace on earth and goodwill to man,
to all men. We have in our midst Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians,
Roman Catholics and all kinds of “ites.” Does anybody interfere with
them? Not that I know of. Yet there was a man, a professed minister in
Sanpete County—[addressing President Canute Peterson of Sanpete Stake]
Brother Peterson, did you not have a man in your Stake who got up a
sensation by publishing far and wide that he had to preach the Gospel
in Sanpete with a revolver on his desk, to prevent the “Mormons” from
interfering with him—was not that the purport of his statement?
[President Peterson: Yes, sir.] Do you know the man? [Ans.: Yes,
sir.] Is he there yet? [Ans.: No, sir.] [Laughter.] Others have stated
lately that we were in a state of sedition, and that in our different
counties there were armed bodies of men prepared to fight the United
States. The person that made and published this last statement was, as
I understand, also a minister, one of these reverend gentlemen. Do any
of you know his name? [A voice: Sheldon Jackson.] I am told it was one
Sheldon Jackson; a reverend gentleman with a big R, a pious man, of
course, and therefore what he says must be true. [Laughter.] We have a
set of people that seem to be prowling about; I suppose, however, they
are as necessary as anything else; I do not know but what they are. We
have a species of birds called buzzards, whose natural tastes are for
any kind of nauseous food; nothing suits them better than to gorge on
carrion. Like them, these defamers are fond of trying to root up
something against our people here. They themselves fabricate all kinds
of notions and opinions, similar to the above that I have mentioned,
that everybody here knows to be false, and they circulate them, and
they have fanned the United States almost into a furor. People
generally are ignorant of what these men and women are engaged in.
They think these persons are honorable men and women; and they get up
a lot of stories about some poor woman or some poor girl who has been
crowded upon by her husband, and that in this state of polygamy there
is the most abject misery, and the greatest distress that can be found
anywhere. Are they true? Some individual cases may be true. Some of
our men do not treat their wives right, and then some wives do not
treat their husbands right. We do not all do right by a great deal. I
wish we all did right. But supposing we were to go down to the places
where these people hail from, to the slums of Chicago, St. Louis,
Cincinnati, Philadelphia, New York, and other
cities,
beginning, say, in New York, with the gilded palaces of 4th and 5th
Avenues, and trace the thing down to Five Points, and then go through
other cities in the same way, and what would we find there? Do you not
think one could get up something as dirty and filthy as the most
foul-minded person can get up about us? A thousand times more so.

They say we are an ignorant people. We admit that we are not so very
intelligent, and we never boast of our learning or intelligence; but
then, they should not boast of theirs either. However, we can compare
favorably with them any day; and while they have had millions of the
public funds to sustain their educational establishments, we have been
despoiled, plundered and robbed over and over again, yet we are
prepared to compare notes with them on education, and also on virtue,
honesty and morals, any way they can fix it. And I would be ready to
say, as one said of old, Thou fool, first take the beam out of thine
own eye, that thou mayest see the more clearly to take the mote out of
thy brother's eye.

We will have read some figures for the information of the brethren who
come from a distance, who may not be acquainted with these matters.

[President Taylor then called upon his secretary, Elder L. John
Nuttall, to read some extracts from a work published by an ex-United
States official in New York City, which were as follows:]

Before citing from the still incomplete census reports of 1880, let us
take that of 1870 and compare Utah and Massachusetts, the new
theocracy with the descendants of an old theocracy—priest-ridden Utah
with “cultured” Massachusetts, also adding the District of Columbia,
which has the enlightening presence of the American Congress to add to
its advantages, and is under its direct government.

[Insert statistical table here] XXX

“From statistics contained in the Report of the Commissioners of
Education for 1877, it is shown that in the percentage of enrollment of
her School population, Utah is in advance of the general average of
the United States, while in the percentage in actual daily attendance
at school, she still further exceeds the average of the whole Union.

In 1877, when the school population of Utah numbered 30,792, there was
invested in the Territory in school property the creditable sum of
$568,984, being about eighteen and one-half dollars per capita of the
school population.

In contrast with this, take the amount per capita of their school
population, which some of the States have invested in school property:
North Carolina, less than $0 60; Louisiana, $3 00; Virginia, about $2
00; Oregon, less than $9 00; Wisconsin, less than $11 00; Tennessee,
less than $2 50; Delaware, less than $13 00.

In respect to the amount, per capita, of her school population, which
Utah has invested in school property, she exceeds several other
Southern and Western States, is in advance of the great States of
Indiana and Illinois, and I believe in advance of the general average
of the entire Union.

Thus, in the matter of education, Utah stands ahead of many old and
wealthy States, and of the general average of the United States
in three very important respects, namely, the enrollment of her school
population, the percentage of their daily attendance at school, and
the amount per capita invested in school property.

From the census of 1880 I have compiled the following:

COMPARISON OF ILLITERACY—

The United States & Utah Territory:
United States. Utah.
Total population 50,155,783143,963
Total over 10 years of
age who cannot read 4,923,451 4,851
Percentage who cannot
read, 10 years & over 9.82 3.37
Total over 10 years of
age who cannot write 6. 239,958 8,826
Percentage who cannot
write, 10 yrs. & over 12.14 6.13
Total white population43,402,970142,423
Total white population
over 10 years of age
who cannot write 3,019,080 8,137
Percentage of white
population who
cannot write, 10 years &
over 6.96 5.71

Of all the States and Territories in the Union there are but thirteen
showing a lower percentage of total population who cannot read,
Connecticut having the same 3.37. The rest range all the way up 32.32
percentage of total population in South Carolina.

We will now produce some evidence with regard to crime, etc., drawn
from official sources:

The population of Utah by the census of 1880 is about 144,000, divided
as follows:

“It will be seen that the “Gentiles” constitute only ten percent of
the population, yet from this small minority are taken the incumbents
of nearly every position of influence and emolument. They have the
Governor, with absolute veto power, Secretary, Judges, Marshals,
Prosecuting Attorneys, Land Register, Recorder, Surveyor-General,
Clerks of the Courts, Commissioners, principal Post Office Mail
Contractors, Postal Agents, Revenue Assessors and Collectors,
Superintendent of Indian Affairs, Indian Agencies, Indian Supplies,
Army Contractors, express, railroad and telegraph lines, the
associated press agency, half the jurors in law, but at least
three-fourths and always the foreman in practice, in fact, every
position not elective.

Last winter there was a census taken of the Utah penitentiary and the
Salt Lake City and County prisons, with the following result: In Salt
Lake City there are about seventy-five Mormons to twenty-five
non-Mormons. In Salt Lake County there are about eighty Mormons to
twenty non-Mormons. In the city prison there were twenty-nine
convicts, all non-Mormons; in the county prison there were six
convicts, all non-Mormons. The jailer stated that the county convicts
for the five years past were all anti-Mormons except three.

In Utah we have seen that by the United States Census the proportion
of orthodox Mormons to all others is as eighty-three to seventeen. In
the Utah penitentiary there were fifty-one prisoners, only five of
whom were Mormons, and two of the five were in prison for imitating
Father Abraham in their domestic menage, so that the seventeen per
cent “outsiders” had forty-six convicts in the penitentiary, while
the eighty-three percent, Mormons had but five! The total number of Utah
lockups, including the penitentiary, is fourteen; these
aggregated one hundred and twenty-five inmates. Of these one hundred
and twenty-five, not over eleven were Mormons, several of whom were
incarcerated for minor offenses and polygamy; while if all the
anti-Mormon thieves, adulterers, blacklegs, perjurers, murderers and
other criminals who are at large, were sent to prison, the Mormons
claim that their prisons could not hold them.

In 1878 a Mormon publication made the following boastful statement:

Out of the twenty counties of the Territory, most of which are
populous, thirteen are, today, without a dram shop, brewery, gambling
or brothel-house, bowling or billiard saloon, lawyer, doctor, parson,
beggar, politician or place-hunter, and almost entirely free from
social troubles of every kind; yet these counties are exclusively
‘Mormon;’ and with the exception of a now and then domestic doctor or
lawyer, the entire Territory was free from these adjuncts of
civilization (?) till after the advent of the professing Christian
element, boastingly here to ‘regenerate the Mormons,’ and today every
single disreputable concern in Utah is run and fostered by the very
same Christian (?) element. Oaths, imprecations, blasphemies,
invectives, expletives, blackguardism, the ordinary dialect of the
“anti-Mormon,” were not heard in Utah till after his advent, nor till
then, did we have litigation, drunkenness, harlotry, political and
judicial deviltries, gambling and kindred enormities.

This is what the Mormons assert. Let us see how the case stands today,
and what the facts attest.

Out of the two hundred saloon, billiard, bowling alley and pool table
keepers, not over a dozen even profess to be Mormons. All of the
bagnios and other disreputable concerns in the Territory are run and
sustained by anti-Mormons. Ninety-eight percent of the gamblers of
Utah are of the same element. Ninety-five percent of the Utah
lawyers are Gentiles, and eighty percent of all the litigation there
is of outside growth and promotion.

Of the two hundred and fifty towns and villages in Utah, over two
hundred have no “gaudy sepulchre of departed virtue,” and these two
hundred and odd towns are almost exclusively Mormon in population. Of
the suicides committed in Utah, ninety odd percent are non-Mormon;
and of the Utah homicides and infanticides, over eighty percent are
perpetrated by the seventeen percent “outsiders.”

The arrests made in Salt Lake City from January 1, 1881, to December
8, 1881, are classified, as follows:

A number of the Mormon arrests were for chicken, cow and water
trespass, petty larceny, etc. The arrests of anti-Mormons were in most
cases for prostitution, gambling, exposing of person, drunkenness,
unlawful dram selling, assault and battery, attempt to kill, etc.

If the seventy-five percent Mormon population of Salt Lake City were
as lawless and corrupt as
the record shows the twenty-five per
cent anti-Mormons to be, there would have been 2,443 arrests made
from their ranks during the year 1881 instead of the comparatively
trifling number of 169 shown on the record; while if the twenty-five
percent anti-Mormon population had as law-abiding and upright a
record as the seventy-five percent Mormons, instead of the startling
number of 851 anti-Mormon arrests during the year, there would have
been but 56 made.”

I give these statements of facts for the information of the brethren
who are here from a distance; but, then, they know them as facts; that
is, they know how these soi disant regenerators act, but many of them
do not know what their civilization is here, and what is sought to be
introduced among us, and the infamous statements circulated concerning
us. We are ready, as I said before, to compare notes with them or the
people of this or any nation at any time. And then again, we ought to
be more pure and virtuous than they, for we do profess to be the
Saints of the Most High God. With this view, when this Edmunds bill
was being canvassed, and there was a prospect of its passing—although
we thought at first it was impossible that such a concern could pass
through Congress; but when we saw the falsehoods that were being
circulated, the furor that was being raised and fanned by religious
fanatics and political demagogues, petitions were gotten up by the
people here, one of them representing the male class, another our
Relief Societies, another our young men, and another our young ladies'
Improvement Societies. All of them represented that we were a virtuous
people—that polygamy was a religious institution; and the young people
asserted that it had been taught to them by their parents from their
youth up, and that the principles of purity, virtue, integrity and
loyalty to the government of the United States had been instilled into
their minds and hearts since their earliest childhood; and further,
that they had been taught and understood that chastity was their
greatest boon, far above jewels or wealth, and more precious than life
itself. In a few days we had 165,000 signatures, and they were
forwarded to Washington. The request was that Congress would not act
as the government had before—first send out an army and then send
commissioners to inquire, but that they would send commissioners first
to inquire into the facts of the case. But they did not choose to
listen. In fact, there has been a great furor in the United States in
relation to these matters, and that has originated to an extent
through our Governor. Now I am very much averse to talking about
official men; I do not like to do such things. They ought to be
honorable men; the most charitable construction I could put upon his
acts would be to say that his education had been sadly neglected, and
that he was not acquainted with figures. He might have learned to read
and write perhaps, but I would question his having gone so far as
arithmetic; because he did not apparently know the difference between
1,300 votes and 18,500 votes. It does denote a lamentable absence of a
knowledge of the rudiments of a common education; but then, a man
should not, perhaps, be blamed for that which he does not know. And,
indeed, it would seem that some of our lawmakers in Washington are
not educated. With all due respect to them, with these facts before
them
and condemned throughout the United States, they did not
think it was any crime for a man to be thus ignorant, or they would
not have sent him back again. We hope the Commissioners will be better
educated, that they will be men who can tell the difference between
1,300 and 18,500. Now we may be very ignorant—and we do not boast much
of our intelligence, but when such people perpetrate such palpable,
flagrant outrages, we have to resort to a political phrase in order to
express our disgust towards them by saying, “There is something rotten
in Denmark.” I have to be a politician as well as everything else.

Still, in the midst of these things, what are you going to do? Do the
very best we can. Are you going to rebel? That would please our
enemies, but we do not have much of that spirit in us. We feel to
sympathize with people who have no better judgment than to adopt so
suicidal and dishonorable a course as that which has been pursued
towards us. Yet notwithstanding this, we are unshaken towards the
principles of our government and believe that we have got the best on
the earth, these evils arising from the corruptions of men and
maladministration. It is said that error and falsehood will run a
thousand miles while truth is putting on its boots, but truth
ultimately will triumph, as according to the old adage, “Truth,
crushed to earth, will rise again.” And what will you do? Contend for
constitutional principles, or lie down and let the vicious, the
mendacious and unprincipled run over and overslaugh you?

We have peacefully, legally and honorably possessed our lands in these
valleys of the mountains, and we have purchased and paid for them; we
do not revel in any ill-gotten gain. They are ours. We have complied
with all the requisitions of law pertaining thereto, and we expect to
possess and inhabit them. We covet no man's silver or gold, or
apparel, or wife, or servants, or flocks, or herds, or horses, or
carriages, or lands, or possessions. But we expect to maintain our own
rights. If we are crowded upon by unprincipled men or inimical
legislation, we shall not take the course pursued by the lawless, the
dissolute and the unprincipled; we shall not have recourse to the
dynamite of the Russian Nihilists, the secret plans and machinations
of the communists, the boycotting and threats of the Fenians, the
force and disorder of the Jayhawkers, the regulators or the Molly
Maguires, nor any other secret or illegal combination; but we still
expect to possess and maintain our rights; but to obtain them in a
legal, peaceful and constitutional manner. As American citizens, we
shall contend for all our liberties, rights and immunities, guaranteed
to us by the Constitution; and no matter what action may be taken by
mobocratic influence, by excited and unreasonable men, or by inimical
legislation, we shall contend inch by inch for our freedom and rights,
as well as the freedom and rights of all American citizens and of all
mankind. As a people or community, we can abide our time, but I will
say to you Latter-day Saints, that there is nothing of which you have
been despoiled by oppressive acts or mobocratic rule, but that you
will again possess, or your children after you. Your rights in Ohio,
your rights in Jackson, Clay, Caldwell and Davis counties in Missouri,
will yet be restored to you. Your possessions, of which you have been
fraudulently des-poiled in Missouri and Illinois, you will again
possess, and that without force, or fraud or violence. The Lord has a
way of His own in regulating such matters. We are told the wicked
shall slay the wicked. He has a way of His own of “emptying the earth
of the inhabitants thereof.” A terrible day of reckoning is
approaching the nations of the earth; the Lord is coming out of His
hiding place to vex the inhabitants thereof; and the destroyer of the
Gentiles, as prophesied of, is already on his way. Already the
monarchs of the earth are trembling from conspiracies among their own
people; already has one Czar of Russia been destroyed and another
holds his life by a very uncertain tenure through the perpetual
threats and machinations of an infuriated populace; already have the
Emperor of Germany, the King of Italy, the Queen of England, the King
of Spain, the Sultan of Turkey, and many others of the honorable and
noble rulers of the earth had their lives jeopardized by the attacks
of regicides; already have two of the Presidents of this Republic been
laid low by the hands of the assassin; and the spirit of
insubordination, misrule, lynching, and mobocracy of every kind is
beginning to ride rampant through the land; already combinations are
being entered into which are very ominous for the future prosperity,
welfare and happiness of this great Republic. The volcanic fires of
disordered and anarchical elements are beginning to manifest
themselves and exhibit the internal forces that are at work among the
turbulent and unthinking masses of the people. Congress will soon have
something else to do than to proscribe and persecute an innocent,
law-abiding and patriotic people. Of all bodies in the world, they can
least afford to remove the bulwarks that bind society together in this
nation, to recklessly trample upon human freedom and rights, and to
rend and destroy that great Palladium of human rights—the Constitution
of the United States. Ere long they will need all its protecting
influence to save this nation from misrule, anarchy and mobocratic
influence. They can ill afford to be the foremost in tampering with
human rights and human freedom, or in tearing down the bulwarks of
safety and protection which that sacred instrument has guaranteed. It
is lamentable to see the various disordered and disorganized elements
seeking to overthrow the greatest and best government in existence on
the earth. Congress can ill afford to set a pattern of violation of
that Constitution which it has sworn to support. The internal fires of
revolution are already smoldering in this nation, and they need but a
spark to set them in a flame. Already are agencies at work in the land
calculated to subvert and overthrow every principle of rule and
government; already is corruption of every kind prevailing in high
places and permeating all society; already are we, as a nation,
departing from our God, and corrupting ourselves with malfeasance,
dishonor, and a lack of public integrity and good faith; already are
licentiousness and debauchery corrupting, undermining and destroying
society; already are we interfering with the laws of nature and
stopping the functions of life, and have become the slayers of our own
offspring, and employ human butchers in the shape of physicians to
assist in this diabolical and murderous work. The sins of this
nation, the licentiousness, the debauchery, the
murders are
entering into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and I tell you now,
from the tops of these mountains, as a humble servant of the living
God, that unless these crimes and infamies are stopped, this nation
will be overthrown, and its glory, power, dominion and wealth will
fade away like the dews of a summer morning. I also say to other
nations of the earth, that unless they repent of their crimes, their
iniquities and abominations, their thrones will be overturned, their
kingdoms and governments overthrown, and their lands made desolate.
This is not only my saying, but it is the saying of those ancient
prophets which they themselves profess to believe; for God will
speedily have a controversy with the nations of the earth, and, as I
stated before, the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way to
overthrow governments, to destroy dynasties, to lay waste thrones,
kingdoms and empires, to spread abroad anarchy and desolation, and to
cause war, famine and bloodshed to overspread the earth.

Besides the preaching of the Gospel, we have another mission, namely,
the perpetuation of the free agency of man and the maintenance of
liberty, freedom, and the rights of man. There are certain principles
that belong to humanity outside of the Constitution, outside of the
laws, outside of all the enactments and plans of man, among which is
the right to live; God gave us the right and not man; no government
gave it to us, and no government has a right to take it away from us.
We have a right to liberty—that was a right that God gave to all men;
and if there has been oppression, fraud or tyranny in the earth, it
has been the result of the wickedness and corruptions of men and has
always been opposed to God and the principles of truth, righteousness,
virtue, and all principles that are calculated to elevate mankind. The
Declaration of Independence states that men are in possession of
certain inalienable rights, among which are life, liberty and the
pursuit of happiness. This belongs to us; it belongs to all humanity.
I wish, and the worst wish I have for the United States, is, that they
could have liberality enough to give to all men equal rights, and,
while they profess to have delivered the black slaves, that they
strike off the fetters of the white men of the South, who have been
ground under the heel of sectional injustice, and let them feel that
we are all brothers in one great nation, and deliver all people from
tyranny and oppression of every kind, and proclaim, as they did at the
first, liberty throughout the land and to all people. That is the
worst wish I have for them. And when I see them take another course I
feel sorry for it. I would like if I had time to talk a little upon
constitutional rights; I would like a little to discuss the
unconstitutionality of that Edmunds bill; but it was ably done by many
senators of the United States, and by others in the House of
Representatives. Very ably done; and I honor the men who maintain such
sentiments. It is true that most of them apologized and said that they
were as much opposed to polygamy as anybody. Well, that is a matter of
their own; they have a right to their opinions as much as I have a
right to my opinion. Would I deprive them of that right? No, I would
not. I preach the Gospel to the world. What is it? Force, tyranny and
oppression? No: it is all free grace and it is all free will. Is
anybody coerced? Did anybody
coerce you, Latter-day Saints? Are
any of you forced to continue Latter-day Saints if you do not want to?
If you think you are, you are all absolved today. We know of no such
principle as coercion; it is a matter of choice. The principle that I
spoke of before—that is, men receive the Holy Ghost within themselves,
is the cementing, binding, uniting power that exists among the
Latter-day Saints. What right have I to expect that members of the
House of Representatives or the people of the United States should
advocate polygamy? They would not understand it. Nor would it be
reasonable for us to expect it at their hands; but what I admired in
those Senators and Members was their fealty to the government, to the
Constitution and the maintenance of the freedom and the inalienable
rights of man, of every color, creed and profession.

I will relate a little conversation that I had with President Hayes,
when he was here, on the subject of polygamy. I said to him, we are
not generally understood by the people of the world, by the outsiders;
and I can look with very great leniency upon the action of members of
the House of Representatives and the Senate, the governors, and others
who have expressed strong indignation against this principle. From
your standpoint, you think we are a corrupt people; you think it is a
part or portion of the thing you call the social evil, that permeates
all classes of society, and is sapping the foundation of the life of
so many throughout the land. You think that we are trying to introduce
something that is encouraging licentiousness and other kindred evils
among the people, and to legalize these things by legislative
enactment and other-wise, and trying to popularize and make legal those
infamies. I continued, that is a false view to take of the subject.
Mr. President, I have always abhorred such practices from the time I
was quite young; when I have seen men act the part of Lotharios,
deceiving the fair sex and despoiling them of their virtue, and then
seeing those men received into society and their victims disgraced,
ostracized and esteemed as pariahs and outcasts, I could not help
sympathizing with a woman that was seduced, I looked upon the man who
seduced her as a villain; I do so today. Said I, when Joseph Smith
first made known the revelation concerning plural marriage and of
having more wives than one, it made my flesh crawl; but, Mr.
President, I received such evidence and testimony pertaining to this
matter, scriptural and otherwise, which it was impossible for me as an
honest man to resist, and believing it to be right I obeyed it and
practiced it. I have not time now to enter into all the details; but
in regard to those honorable gentlemen in the Senate who maintained
the principle of constitutional rights and who declare, as I declare
today, that that instrument which was then gotten up was
unconstitutional in several particulars, I could not expect them to
advocate my religion; it is not their business, but is mine and yours.
They can take what religion they please; we do not wish to force our
religion nor our marital relations upon them, nor have we ever done
it, nor could we do it if we wished, for this principle is connected
with the Saints alone, and pertains to eternity as well as time, and
is known to us by the appellation of “celestial marriage.” It does not
belong to them, nor does
it pertain to all of our own people.
None but the more pure, virtuous, honorable and upright are permitted
to enter into these associations. Now I speak to the Latter-day
Saints, who are acquainted with what I say. If I state untruths, tell
me, and I will consider you my friends, and the friends of this
community. Should we preach the doctrine of plurality of wives to the
people of the United States? No; you know very well that it is only
for honorable men and women, virtuous men and women, honest men and
women who can be vouched for by those who preside over them, and whom
they recognize as their Presidents; it is only such people as these
that can be admitted to participate in this ordinance. You know it. I
know it, you Presidents of Stakes know it and the people know it.
There are any number of people in this Territory who are good people
in many respects, but who cannot come up to that standard. That is the
position we occupy in relation to this principle.

If the United States were to ask us if we could give to them the same
ordinance, we would say, No; no, we cannot. Why can you not? Because
it is a religious ordinance, as I have stated; because it connects men
and women together for time and for eternity; because it associates
people of this world in the next; because it makes provision for our
marital associations in the other world, and that while we have our
wives here we expect to have them in eternity; and we believe in that
doctrine that reaches beyond time into eternity. Others make their
marital relations to end in death; their covenants last only till
death does them part. Ours take hold of eternity, they enter into the
eternal state of existence, and contemplate an eternal union of the
sexes, worlds without end.

We believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life in the world
to come; and not only in the resurrection of the male, but also of the
female. We believe also in eternal unions, union on earth and in
heaven. And as the heavens declare the glory of God, and the stellar
universes roll on according to eternal laws implanted in them by the
Deity, and perform their revolutions through successive ages, so will
man progress and increase—himself, his wives, his children—through the
eternities to come. Who is injured by this faith? Cannot a great and
magnanimous nation afford the privilege to enjoy these principles
without passing bills of pains and penalties for the belief and
enunciation of such divine, ennobling and Godlike principles?

Man is a dual being, possessed of body and spirit, made in the image
of God, and connected with Him and with eternity. He is a God in
embryo and will live and progress throughout the eternal ages, if
obedient to the laws of the Godhead, as the Gods progress throughout
the eternal ages. Is it a thing incredible in this generation that God
shall raise the dead? Is it a thing incredible that the finest and
most exalted ties and sympathies of humanity, sanctified by family
relations—pure undefiled love, should continue in the resurrection?

We have no fault to find with our government. We deem it the best in
the world. But we have reason to deplore its maladministration, and I
call upon our legislators, our governors and president to pause in
their career and not to tamper with the rights and liberties of
American citizens, nor wantonly tear down the bulwarks of
American and human liberty. God has given to us glorious institutions;
let us preserve them intact and not pander to the vices, passions and
fanaticism of a depraved public opinion.

Cannot the enlightenment, civilization and statesmanship of the
nineteenth century in this great American nation find a more worthy
object than to fetter human thought, to enslave its own citizens, to
forge chains for the suppression of human progress, to bind in
Cimmerian darkness the noblest aspirations of the human soul, to tear
down the pillars of the temple of liberty, to inaugurate a system of
serfdom and oppression, and to copy after Egypt, Russia, and the late
practices of this nation in enslaving and brutalizing humanity,
tearing to pieces that great Palladium of human rights, the
Constitution of the United States? Can they afford to do this? If
there are supposed wrongs, can they not find a legal and
constitutional way of correcting these wrongs? Surely the tearing down
of the bulwarks, the very temple of freedom, will not aid them in the
solution of this, to them, vexed question, for if they tear away the
strongholds of society, they themselves will perish in the ruins.

But with regard to those not of us, I will tell you what I believe
about the matter. I believe it would be much better for them to have
even polygamy in their state of existence than this corroding,
corrupting, demoralizing and damning evil that prevails in their
midst. We look upon it that polygamy is the normal condition of man;
but that has nothing to do with Mormon plurality of wives, or what is
termed “celestial marriage.” I would state also, that when we speak of
its being the normal condition, it has so existed throughout all ages.
And when we talk about polygamy, I have read the speeches of men in
Congress when speaking about the Mormon position, telling us that the
British in India put down suttee, which is the burning of widows on
the funeral pile of their husbands; casting children into the Ganges,
etc.—that the British put that down by force of law. But the British,
if my memory serves me right, have about two hundred millions of
polygamists under their jurisdiction, and they can afford to treat
them right and to give them the protection of law; but our free
government cannot. And when we talk about the suttee, that is the
destruction of life, while polygamy means the propagation of human
life. One tends to destruction and death, the other to the propagation
of life. I will guarantee today, without fear of contradiction, that
there is more of the suttee in the United States today pertaining to
infants than there ever was in India among the same number of
population. It has become unfashionable in the east for women to have
large families. I have heard remarks like this: one lady was asked,
How many children have you? One or two. Is that all? What do you take
me for, do you think I am a cow? Why no, you are not a cow, for cows
do not murder their offspring. What a terrible tale is here told! What
a horrible state of affairs is here exhibited. And I am told that some
of these iniquities are being introduced here. I tell you, in the name
of God, if you do we will be after you. I am told of physicians who
are acting as they do in the east—as the butchers of infants. Let us
look after these things, you Bishops, and if you do find it out,
bring them up. As God lives we will not permit such infamies in
our midst; you will not commence your fashionable murders here. And I
will say now, Wo to this nation and to the nations of Europe, or any
people among any nation, that sanctions these things. Have you not
read that no “murderer hath eternal life abiding in him?” What shall
be thought of those unnatural monsters, the slayers of their own
offspring? This revolting, unnatural, damnable vice may be
fashionable, but God will require this crime at their hands. Wo to men
and to women that are licentious and corrupt, depraved and debauched,
and especially wo, tenfold wo, to the murderers of helpless innocence.
I tell you this in the name of the Lord. If these things are not
stopped, God will arise and shake the nations of the earth and root
out their infamies.

Now then what shall we do?

We do not wish to place ourselves in a state of antagonism, nor to act
defiantly, towards this government. We will fulfil the letter, so far
as practicable, of that unjust, inhuman, oppressive and
unconstitutional law, so far as we can without violating principle;
but we cannot sacrifice every principle of human right at the behest
of corrupt, unreasoning and unprincipled men; we cannot violate the
highest and noblest principles of human nature and make pariahs and
outcasts of high-minded, virtuous and honorable women, nor sacrifice
at the shrine of popular clamor the highest and noblest principles of
humanity!

We shall abide all constitutional law, as we always have done; but
while we are Godfearing and law-abiding, and respect all honorable men
and officers, we are no craven serfs, and have not learned to lick the
feet of oppressors, nor to bow in base submission to unreasoning
clamor. We will contend, inch by inch, legally and constitutionally,
for our rights as American citizens, and for the universal rights of
universal man. We stand proudly erect in the consciousness of our
rights as American citizens, and plant ourselves firmly on the sacred
guarantees of the Constitution; and that instrument, while it defines
the powers and privileges of the President, Congress and the
judiciary, also directly provides that “the powers not delegated to
the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people.”

I have heard it boasted by British statesmen, that as soon as a slave
planted his foot on British soil, his fetters were broken and he was a
free man. It is the proud boast of Americans that her flag floats for
all; and while Congress claims the right of dominion and legislation
over territories, with that same right is associated the right of
manhood, freedom and American citizenship. We need have no fears, no
trembling in our knees, about these attempts to deprive us of our
God-given and constitutional liberties. God will take care of His
people, if we will only do right. I am thankful to say that you are
doing pretty nearly as well as you know how. There are many things
among us that are wrong, many things that are foolish, but generally
you are seeking to fear God and keep His commandments. Now, treat your
wives right, but do not subject yourselves to the infamous provisions
of the Edmund's act more than you can help, avoid
all harsh
expressions and improper actions, act carefully and prudently in all
your social relations. Be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. A
gentleman in Washington told another, who related it to me, in answer
to the question, What will the “Mormons” do with their wives and
children when this bill passes? He was told: Turn them out in the
streets as we do our harlots. I say in the name of God we will not do
any such thing, and let all Israel say Amen. [The vast congregation,
amounting to from 12,000 to 14,000 persons, responded Amen.] We will
stand by our covenants, and the Constitution will bear us out in it.
Among other things, that instrument says that Congress shall make no
law impairing the validity of contracts. You have contracted to be
united with your wives in time and in eternity, and it would not do
for us to break a constitutional law, would it? [Laughter.] Others may
do it, but we cannot. We cannot lay aside our honor, we cannot lay
aside our principles; and if people cannot allow us freedom, we can
allow freedom to them and to all men. We will be true to our wives and
cherish them and maintain them, and stand by them in time, and we will
reign with them in eternity, when thousands of others are weltering
under the wrath of God. Any man that abuses his wife, or takes
advantage of this law to oppress her, is not worthy of a standing in
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and let the
congregation say Amen. [The immense congregation responded by a loud
Amen.]

Now, what will we do in our relations with the United States? We will
observe the law as we have done, and be as faithful as we have been.
We will maintain our principles and live our religion and keep the
commandments of God, and obey every constitutional law, pursuing that
course that shall direct us in all things.

Brethren and sisters, God bless you and lead you in the paths of life,
and give you wisdom; be calm and quiet; all is well in Zion. You need
not be under any fears about anything that may transpire, as though
some strange thing had happened. We have met such things before; we
can meet them again. God has delivered us before. He will deliver us
again, if we put our trust in Him and remain true to the covenants we
have made with Him. Our trust is in God. You have heard me say before,
Hosanna, the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth; and if this congregation
feels as I do we will join together in the same acclaim. Follow me.

[The speaker then repeated and was followed by the congregation:
Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna! to God and the Lamb, forever and ever
worlds without end, Amen, Amen and Amen.]